Resolution Trust Corporation

The Resolution Trust Corporation was established in 1989 by the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), and it was overhauled in 1991. In addition to privatizing, and maximizing the recovery from the disposition of, the assets of failed S&Ls, FIRREA also included three specific goals designed to channel the resources of the RTC toward particular societal groups. The goals included maximizing opportunities for minority- and women-owned contractors, maximizing availability of affordable single- and multi-family housing, and protecting local real estate and financial markets from asset dumping. Of the three goals, only the protection of local markets and concerns over dumping was given a great deal of attention. The agency was slow to implement Minority and Women-owned Business (MWOB) and Affordable Housing programs.

The Resolution Trust Corporation was a 501(c)(1) organization.

In 1995, the Resolution Trust Corporation's duties were transferred to the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In 2006, the SAIF and its sister fund for banks—the bank insurance fund (BIF)—also administered by the FDIC, were combined to form the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) under the provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005.

Controversy

Early investigations of the RTC by the General Accounting Office found evidence of fraud and waste, with RTC officials conceding that the volume of real estate dispositions and staff shortages created a significant potential for misconduct and mismanagement.

Susan Hudson-Wilson, founder and president of Property & Portfolio Research, later described the RTC as involving "the greatest and most unfair transfer of wealth that has ever taken place in this country—perhaps the whole world."